is What a
Social Problem?
Social problems defined
Social
Problem: a social condition that
has negative consequences for
individuals, our social world, or our
physical world.
The objective reality of a social problem :
some aspects of a social problem can be
proven by the collection of data.
E.g. The Center for Disease Control released that
by the end of 2003, 1.2 million Americans were
living with HIV/AIDS
Defining a social problem
Social
Constructionism (Berger &
Luckmann, 1966): our world is a social
creation, created from our everyday
thoughts and actions.
Not based on our biological standards
There is no singular reality to defining social
problems
E.g. HIV/AIDS has both objective & subjective
dimensions
social theories for social
problems:
Functional Structuralism the
Functional-Structuralism examines
functions (or consequences) of the structure of
society
Basic Belief: Society is made up of inter-related
parts that depend on one another to maintain order
in society
Society is the product of the agreed upon norms and
values of its individuals.
Society is like a puzzle each individual must play by
the rules so that society can function
social theories for social
problems:
Functional Structuralism
Society is like the human body: Just as
the human body has essential organs,
each with a specific function, society has
organs that help it run: the institutions of
family, economy, politics, education,
religion, etc.
E.g. The institution of family maintains the
health and socialization of our young; the
institution of education provides knowledge
and skills that well need to work and enter
social theories for social
problems:
They believe that social problems are
Functional Structuralism
actually functional
If they were not, they would not exist.
Functionalists
might ask, what purpose
does a social problem serve?
E.g.: Within this perspective homelessness
helps society function how?
social theories for social
problems:
Conflict Theory
Conflict theorists examine how society is held
together by power relations
They ask:
How do people in power coerce those without power to
play by their rules?
How do inequalities persist?
How are everyday situations the media we consume, the
public transit we take, the education we receive actually
about structural power relations?
Basic Belief: Society is characterized by social
inequality
Society is defined by peoples struggle to secure
social theories for social
problems:
They believe that social
Conflict Theory problems exist
because people with power secure their
own resources which results in social ills
E.g.: Crime forced into crime bc of their
social inequality
They
are also interested in how people
with power can define something as a
social problem
social theories for social
problems:
Symbolic Interaction language, words, and
Symbolic Interactionists focus on how we use
symbols to create and maintain our social reality
Basic Belief: Society is the sum of the interactions of people and groups; it
is a micro theory
Human beings act in accordance with how they believe they are
expected to act; we learn behavior expectations through interaction with
others
How would they approach social problems?
How we learn negative behavior? Ex. Doing drugs, skipping school etc
How we label things. What are the consequences? Ex. Labeling a youth
as a juvenile delinquent
Talking about social problems. Ex. Healthcare (socialized) and having
social theories social
problems:
for Symbolic Interactionists on social
Symbolic Interaction
problems:
1. We learn behavior from others
e.g. no one is born a juvenile delinquent, but one
learns this behavior from others
2. The language we use to define a social
problem constructs the problem
national healthcare or socialized medicine?
pro-choice or pro-abortion?
The Forest for the Trees
[Johnson]
Most
people have trouble imagining life
circumstances beyond their own
experiences.
This
is why the sociological angle the
forest for the trees is important
The Sociological imagination
[C. Wright Mills]
a
sociological imagination: a way of
thinking that helps link our personal lives
to the social world.
It means you have to see what cannot be
seen in front of your eyes.
It means that you have to be able to creatively
imagine the connections between events
which produce current social life
The Sociological Imagination
[C. Wright Mills]
the
sociological imagination shows us
that individual troubles are usually
linked to social issues
Mills
examples:
War: personal troubles during war might include
how to survive it, how to die with honor, or how to
protest it
BUT the structural issues of war have to do with
its causes what global relations have made us
enter it? What types of men are in command
The Forest for the Trees
[Johnson]
It
is a very narrow view to argue that
society is responsible for social programs
only in the sense that institutions have a
general humanitarian obligation to assist
those who suffer as a result (7).
The Forest for the Trees
[Johnson]
The
Conservative Approach: Murrays
Losing Ground
The world is like a merry-go-round: the goal is
to make sure that everyone has a reasonably
equal chance at the brass ring or at least to
get on the merry-go-round
After reviewing 30 years of U.S. economic
policies he concluded that the failure of these
policies is due to a lack of individual initiative
He suggests cutting all social welfare
The Forest for the Trees
[Johnson]
The
Footrace example
Predisposed to do better. Ex. Athletes, gender,
race
Income is distributed according to the
outcome of a race.
The first fifth draws 45%
The second fifth wins 25%
The third fifth wins 16%
The fourth fifth splits 10%
The Forest for the Trees
[Johnson]
If
we ask why is there a poverty then an
obvious answer is some people run
faster
If
we ask why does one group have to
share 4% of the income we get a different
answer.
If the prize money were distributed more
evenly by fifths there would be less poverty
The Forest for the Trees
[Johnson]
And
what is wrong with the liberal
approach to analyzing poverty?
The government has a responsibility to help
its people out by providing social welfare
programs
Putting a band-aid on the social structures
that invented poverty
The Forest for the Trees
[Johnson]
Liberals
tend to believe that social
institutions have some responsibility to do
something, but this is a far cry from
understanding how systems produce the
problem in the first place (7).
The Forest for the Trees
[Johnson]
So
what questions do we really need to
ask if we want to think about poverty in
our society?
The Forest for the Trees
[Johnson]
It
means asking critical questions about
major social institutions
Corporate Capitalism
Politics
Education
Family
It
means asking, Is industrial capitalism
The Forest for the Trees
[Johnson]
What
does Johnson say about poverty as
a social problem?